RANGIORA HIGH SCHOOL East Belt, Rangiora 7400, New Zealand
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Whakautea Respect Rangiora Tohaina Contribute Wawatahia Aspire HighTe KuraSchool Tuarua o Rangiora NEWSLETTER April 2017 R E S P E C T A S P I R E C O N T R I B UT E RANGIORA HIGH SCHOOL East Belt, Rangiora 7400, New Zealand Phone +64 3 3118888 Fax +64 3 3138005 Email [email protected] From Julia Malcolm, Acting Principal Ngā mihinui ki a koutou. For many of us the last week of the term is a welcome end to a full on, action packed term. For our Year 9 students they now have 11 weeks under their belts and are getting to grips with all the changes that the transition from primary to secondary brings. It is pleasing to read this year’s annual Yr 9 “satisfaction survey” which shows that students are pretty happy to be here. There are somethings to iron out of course but that goes with the territory of bringing 350 people from over 20 different schools into an already established and large environment. The Learning Hubs in which they have been working are busy, and yes, sometimes noisy, places where there is a real feeling of energy. I visit them often and really enjoy hearing students talking about actual learning, in response to the question, “what are you doing today?” There is much in the media about Modern Learning Environments but the proof of the pudding is in listening to student, staff and parent voice. I am extremely excited about the opening of Rakahuri, where the Year 9s and Science classes will be working in a cutting edge building with technology that I would not have imagined at the start of my teaching career. Students and teachers will find themselves in an environment that is purpose built for collaborative learning, with six spaces for the six year 9 hubs and another learning space for Science with some amazing state of the art labs. I am really looking forward for you all to get the chance to come and look through Rakahuri, which opens officially on May 9. There is plenty to read about in this newsletter in terms of successes outside of the classroom. Every week there are Rangiora High School students putting on the green and gold in a range of activities as diverse as cattle handling to Shakespeare festival. The recent Relay for Life (see later in this issue) is another example of students and their teachers committing to helping others and it was very heartening to see them walking the talk (literally) and raising a substantial amount of money for the Cancer Society. I was very honoured to visit the Rangiora Fire Station with our Head Students to present a photograph on canvas that the students presented in recognition of the fire brigade’s great work in our community, and especially in responding to the Port Hills Fire. This was the result of a small fundraising event one lunchtime, but the gesture was hugely appreciated by the firemen and women and the canvas, which is a haunting image of the fires, is displayed proudly in their newly renovated station house. As ANZAC Day is upon us we have had our school ANZAC assemblies last week which were observed with solemnity and respect by our students. When the roll of honour is called, accompanied by photos of the 71 soldiers themselves, or of their gravestones, along with their age and where and how they died, you can see it hitting home. These were men and one woman who were only a few years older than our Year 13s. I hope on ANZAC Day, you might be able to attend the school ceremony in the Court of Memories. It is a half hour when we take time out of our busy lives to mark these lost lives and the meaning of their sacrifice. Great turn out at Whānau hui this week From Julia Malcolm, Acting Principal On a more mundane note, we have been presented with some fairly dramatic weather of late and it is always a challenge in a spread out school like ours to remain warm and dry. Last week most students were sensible as they went about the school, but we were let down by some whose behavior made the cleaners’ job in the evening a mammoth task. It was disappointing to see students unnecessarily soaking wet as they did not take up the opportunity to go to classrooms which were open for them at lunchtime and preferred to slide around outside. We will be grateful to have the hall back in action next term, as well as the deep eaves the length of both sides of Rakahuri for shelter. Jackets, umbrellas and decent shoes are essential to get through the winter and I encourage you to get in touch if you need some help getting these items. Looking back on this term I am extremely grateful to staff and students who have assisted in so many events and activities – from House competitions, Peer Support, Year 9 Camps, coaching and managing Sports’ teams at local and national tournaments, rehearsing Performing Arts groups, and giving service to the school and community. Our six head students have really made a great impact and are a pleasure to work with. To the teachers who have been away on Year 9 camps, Biology, Outdoor Ed, Geography, Kaiapoi Pa trips for all Year 9’s and numerous other field trips, I thank you for your passion and dedication. And lastly to the staff who have taken the leap into a new way of teaching in the Year 9 hubs, I applaud your courage and commitment to taking teaching and learning in a much needed, new direction. Wishing you happy holidays, be safe, enjoy the autumn, and the break away. I hope all students take the time to read, connect with family and friends, reflect on the past 11 weeks and their goals for the next term. Congratulations to those of you who have achieved what you set out to do this term. text Visiting Chinese delegation from Enshi Province From Bev Moore, Commissioner Dear Parents and Caregivers, Kia ora koutou. Firstly I would like to report that the school’s principal position is now being advertised and will close during the school holidays. I would again like to thank everyone who participated in the consultation process as the advertisement and person specification feels unique to Rangiora High School, its community and their aspirations. This was a collabora- tive effort involving all stakeholders and I look forward to updating you next term on progress. As you may have noted from the recent media coverage of the school, the Ministry has a tentative timeline for a return to self-governance by the end of 2017 and I am working to appoint a principal by term 3 as one step towards achieving this. Returning the school to sustainable self-governance is my end goal and good progress is being made with the outstanding property and financial matters. We have been meeting regularly with MoE and our advisers, regarding property matters and early next term start the consultation process to develop a long term financial plan. The key part of the governance role is monitoring and raising student achievement. As you may recall, the school’s strategic plan has goals around the engagement of students and ensuring there are clear and obtain- able pathways between year levels and onto higher education. As part of this focus senior leaders and I have been going over the school’s student achievement and retention rates and have requested Brent Ingram to undertake a comprehensive review of the school’s faculty structure and the programmes offered to students to ensure that they are delivering the very best outcomes for the students. This work will take place next term and we look forward to sharing the results and actions from this significant piece of work in term two or early term three. As you may be aware, the school has been looking at options for the much-needed upgrades of the shared gymnasium facility, the tennis/netball courts and now the rugby fields. Recently I was approached by members of the community to look at the feasibility of further developing school/community partnerships for upgrading our sports field, which would provide real benefits to the students at our school and also the wider community. This planning is in the early stages and we are investigating a number of similar successful projects in the region. I will update you on this as we progress our discussions around this type of shared model. Finally, as you may have noticed it is a very exciting time for our students and staff as the school starts shifting in to the new facility. Truckloads of new furniture have been arriving for the fit-out and the school has hosted visitors from several other schools who have come to look at the facility. We understand that it might even feature in an architectural competition! A very sincere thanks needs to go to Brian Hays for overseeing this huge project, along with the staff and students who have participated in the process whether through critiqu- ing the design, testing the furniture and providing ongoing feedback on the connected curriculum, enabling the changes to be closely monitored . As always, we welcome strong communication links with parents and caregivers. If you have any questions or feedback about any aspect of the school please do not hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher, any member of the Strategic Leadership Team or me - I can be contacted through the school office (telephone 03 3118888) or via email [email protected].